Rubber Based Board Game

ABSTRACT

A novel board game system with board game tiles having a rubber based bottom is disclosed. The board game system comprises one or more board game tiles, a plurality of game dice; a plurality of game cards; and a plurality of game tokens. Each of the board games tiles comprises a paperboard top layer; a polymeric bottom layer; and a polyester fabric layer disposed between the paperboard top layer and the polymeric bottom layer. The plurality of dice may further comprise a movement die having a plurality of numbers on an outer surface; and a traffic die having a plurality of instruction icons on an outer surface.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains generally to board games and more specifically to a rubber based board game.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Board games are well known and are made in many configurations. Players become quickly bored though with redundant game play. What is needed therefore is a new and inventive board game structure which excites players and entices players to play multiple times.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed innovation. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The invention is directed toward a board game system comprising one or more board game tiles, a plurality of game dice; a plurality of game cards; and a plurality of game tokens. Each of the board games tiles comprises a paperboard top layer; a polymeric bottom layer; and a polyester fabric layer disposed between the paperboard top layer and the polymeric bottom layer. The plurality of dice may further comprise a movement die having a plurality of numbers on an outer surface; and a traffic die having a plurality of instruction icons on an outer surface.

The plurality of game tokens may be shaped three-dimensional objects. The game tokens further may further comprise two or more player tokens; two or more car tokens; and two or more truck tokens. In another embodiment of the invention, the paperboard top layer of the board game tiles has a printed surface displaying a gaming image having a grid image. In this embodiment, each of the two or more player tokens are no larger than one space within the grid image; each of the two or more car tokens are no larger than one space within the grid image; and each of the two or more truck tokens are no larger than two adjacent spaces within the grid image.

The polymeric bottom layer may be composed of a material selected from a group consisting of: rubber, synthetic rubber, polyurethane rubber, polyisoprene, cis-1,4-polyisoprene natural rubber, trans-1,4-polyisoprene gutta-percha, synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, neoprene, butyl rubber, halogenated butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, ethylene propylene diene rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, polyacrylic rubber, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, fluoroelastomer, perfluoroelastomer, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, and ethylene-vinyl acetate.

The polymeric bottom layer of the one or more board game tiles may have a plurality of channels. The plurality of channels may be parallel. In another embodiment two or more of the plurality of channels intersect.

The invention is also directed toward a method of utilizing the game board system. The method comprises placing the one or more game tiles on a planar surface such that the polymeric bottom layer is adjacent to the planar surface; placing one or more game tokens on the paperboard top layer; rolling the one or more game dice; taking one or more game cards; discarding one or more game cards; and moving a predetermined game token along a top portion of the one or more game board tiles.

Still other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there is shown and described the embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of the best modes suited to carry out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious aspects all without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various exemplary embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, wherein like reference numerals refer to identical or similar components, with reference to the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of the components of the board game;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a portion of the board game surface;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a portion of the board game surface;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a portion of the board game surface;

FIG. 5 is a top view of a portion of the board game surface;

FIG. 6 is a schematic of game dice;

FIG. 7 is a schematic of game cards;

FIG. 8 is a schematic of game player tokens;

FIG. 9 is a schematic of game pieces;

FIG. 10 is a side view of a game board;

FIG. 11 is s side view of an alternative embodiment of a game board;

FIG. 12 is a side view of the rubber bottom of a game board;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the rubber bottom of a game board; and

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the rubber bottom of a game board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced with or without any combination of these specific details, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention and the claims.

As used in this application, the terms “component”, “module”, “system”, “interface”, or the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a controller and the controller can be a component.

The invention is directed toward a novel board game and method of use. The game board system is illustrated in FIG. 1. The board game system comprises one or more board game tiles 100, a plurality of dice 200, a deck of cards 300, and a plurality of game tokens 400.

Referring to FIG. 2 through FIG. 5, the game image on the top surface of the game board tiles 100. The game image is a road for the placement of the game tokens 400. The game image is primarily a grid 102. The grid 102 is made up of hashed lines to show the lanes of travel on a highway and perpendicular lines to divide the lanes into spaces. As shown in FIG. 2, game play starts as the enter zone 104 where players place game tokens 400 into play. As shown in FIG. 2, the lanes of the grid 102 may be straight or curved, as shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 4, the grid 102 may include a toll booth zone 106. The toll booth zone 106 is a highlighted area on the game board tile 100 which allows for a change in game play when the game tokens 400 are moved into the area. As shown in FIG. 5 the last game board tile 100 of the game is illustrated. The last game board tile 100 has an exit zone 108. A player wins a game when the player is the first to move his game token 400 into the exit zone 108. The game board tiles 100 may contain any number of images and the grid 102 may be in any configuration. The game board system may have any number of game board tiles 100.

Referring to FIG. 6, the dice 200 are illustrated. Any number of dice 200 may be utilized. In the preferred embodiment one die is the movement die 200 a and one die is the traffic die 200 b. The movement die 200 a displays numbers on the outer surface of the die. Each side of the movement die 200 a has a different number. The player moves his game token 400 the number of spaces indicated on the movement die 200 a. The numbers on the movement die 200 a may be any numbers. In the preferred embodiment the six numbers displayed on the outer surface are 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, and 4. The traffic die 200 b contains icons on the outer surface. The icons illustrate instructions for the user to move. For instance the icon may be a car with four arrows which would tell the player to move a traffic car one space. The icons could be two cars with four arrows which would tell the player to move a traffic car two spaces, move two traffic cars one space each, or move a traffic truck one space. The icon could be a car with two diagonal arrows telling the player to move his or her car diagonally one space. The icon could be a car with a +/− sign to tell the player to add or subtract a traffic car to the game board.

Referring to FIG. 7, a deck of cards 300 is illustrated. The deck of cards 300 may have any number of cards. The cards contain instructions for users to vary game play.

Referring to FIG. 8, player tokens 402 are illustrated. Player tokens 402 are game pieces which are respectively controlled by the players playing the game. Each player preferably has one player token 402. There may be any number of player tokens 402 used in a game. Also, the player tokens 402 may be any size and shape. In the preferred embodiment the player tokens 402 are three dimensional pieces shaped to resemble cars. In the preferred embodiment, one player token 402 is no bigger than one space on the grid 102.

Referring to FIG. 9, traffic tokens are indicated. The traffic tokens include traffic cars 404 and traffic trucks 406. There may be any number of traffic cars 404 or traffic trucks 406 used in a game. Also, the traffic cars 404 or traffic trucks 406 may be any size and shape. In the preferred embodiment the traffic cars 404 are three dimensional pieces shaped to resemble cars and the traffic trucks 406 are three dimensional pieces shaped to resemble trucks. In the preferred embodiment, one traffic car 404 is no bigger than one space on the grid 102 and one traffic truck 406 is no bigger than two adjacent spaces on the grid 102.

Referring to FIG. 10 through FIG. 14, the preferred embodiment of the game board tiles 100 is illustrated. Referring to FIG. 10, a cross section of a game board tile 100 is illustrated. In this embodiment, each game board tile 100 is formed from layers of material. In this embodiment, the top layer is formed from a printed paper 110. The printed paper 110 is a sheet of paper on which the game image is printed. The printed paper 110 is glued or adhered to a layer of paperboard 120. The paperboard 120 may be any density of paper or wood material. In other embodiments the paperboard 120 is composed of chipboard or fibreboard (such as medium-density fibreboard). Attached to the paperboard 120 is a polyester fabric 125. The polyester fabric 125 is the base on which the layer of polymeric material 130 is placed. In the preferred embodiment, the polymeric material 130 is extruded directly to the polyester fabric 125. The combined polyester fabric 125 and polymeric material 130 are then laminated onto the paperboard 120. The polyester fabric 125 may be disposed at the outer edge of the combined polyester fabric 125 and polymeric material 130. Alternatively, the polyester fabric 125 may be embedded and surrounded by the polymeric material 130. In this embodiment the polymeric material 130 is attached directly to the paperboard 120.

Referring to FIG. 11, an alternative embodiment is illustrated. In this embodiment the game board tile comprises a layer of paperboard 120 and a layer of polymeric material 130. The polymeric material 130 may be formed from any type of polymeric or rubber based material. The polymeric material 130 may be composed of a material selected from a group consisting of: rubber, synthetic rubber, polyurethane rubber, polyisoprene, cis-1,4-polyisoprene natural rubber, trans-1,4-polyisoprene gutta-percha, synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, neoprene, butyl rubber, halogenated butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, ethylene propylene diene rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, polyacrylic rubber, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, fluoroelastomer, perfluoroelastomer, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, and ethylene-vinyl acetate. The polymeric material provides a benefit to the game in that the bottom of the board game may be easily cleaned if it gets dirty.

Referring to FIGS. 12-14, the polymeric material 130 has a plurality of channels 132 extending into the polymeric material 130. As shown in FIG. 13, the channels 132 extend in one direction through the polymeric material 130. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 14, the channels 132 can extend two directions in the polymeric material 130, forming a criss-cross pattern. The channels 132 are disposed on the bottom side of the tile 100. The channels 132 provide a benefit to the game in that if liquid is spilled beside the game, the liquid can spread under the channels 132 without the damaging the printed paper 110 or images on the top of the game tile 100.

The game board tile 100 may have any number of layers and not each type of layer needs to be utilized in any one embodiment. The game board tiles may be any size, shape, and thickness. In the preferred embodiment, each game board tile is approximately 3.0 mm in thickness and measures as a 5 inch square. The layers of material may be any thickness but in the preferred embodiment the layer of the paperboard is approximately 1.5 mm thick and the layer of polymeric material 130 is approximately 1.5 mm thick.

The following portion describes the method of play of the game board system. The objective of the game is to be the first player to drive a car from the beginning to the end of the highway on top of the game board tiles. The players first set up the game. First, the players determine the order of play. The player that has been driving for the most number of years goes first. Play proceeds to the left. In other embodiments other methods may be used to determine the order of play, such as rolling a die, or randomly picking a player to begin.

The players then place the game board tiles. The standard game is played with seven game board tiles including the enter, exit and toll booth tiles. The first player places the enter road tile on the board. Moving to the left around the table each player adds a tile to the road until they all have been placed. The exit tile is placed at the end.

Players then place the traffic vehicles: Traffic car and truck placement is determined collaboratively by the players. The tiles indicate the number of cars or trucks for each tile. Players distribute one car or truck in each lane on the tile. Traffic vehicles are preferably not placed adjacently. Players then set up the cards. Players shuffle the deck of cards, deal each player three cards, and place the deck on the table near the road. The players then begin game play: The first player places their car on the enter tile and rolls the dice. Players enter the game in any lane they choose.

The game utilizes two dice—the movement die and the traffic die. The movement die is numbered with 2, 3, and 4—although other numbers may be utilized. This die determines how many spaces a player may move. Card play can increase or decrease this number. The traffic die allows the player to control the white traffic cars on the road. Based on the roll, the player may move traffic cars or trucks or add and subtract traffic cars (but not trucks) from the road. The double move icon on the traffic die allows a player to move two cars one space each, move one car two spaces, or move one truck one space.

Players also utilize the cards during game play. Players draw up to three cards at the end of their turn-up to the hand limit of three although other numbers of cards may be utilized. A player's cards are preferably kept secret until played. Players may play as many cards as they have during their turn. Cards must be played during a player's turn except reaction cards which must be played on other player's turns. Extra cards drawn from card bonuses may be played immediately. Cards that have been played are placed face up in a discard pile next to the deck. When the deck has been exhausted, players shuffle the discard pile to replenish. Players may only have three cards in their hand at the end of their turn, unless a card ability gives an ability to have four cards.

There are different card types used during the game. Card effects are listed on all cards. In some cases there are diagrams to clarify card intentions. The four primary types of cards are traffic cards, driver cards, aggression cards, and reaction cards. The green traffic cards only control traffic cars and trucks. These cards represent the pulse of the ever-changing road. Traffic cards may not be used to move player cards. The blue driver cards provide movement and other bonuses to the active player. Some driver cards have special effects described on the card. The red aggression cards are offensive attacks played by the active player on other players. These cards are played during the active player's turn to impede the progress of their opponents. Some aggression cards cause opponents to lose cards. These cards are not replaced until the end of the affected players next turn. The yellow reaction cards counter any card played by the active player at any time. Reaction cards may not be played by the active player except to counter another reaction card. Typically they are used to defend against aggression, but they may also be used to stop a player from playing traffic or driver cards. Reaction cards may also counter other reaction cards which may in turn be countered recursively until the original card is ultimately countered or remains in effect.

The turn sequence is as follows: (1) roll the dice. The movement die indicates the number of spaces a player may initially move before card bonuses. The traffic die indicates a variety of possible actions that affect overall traffic. (2) perform actions. The action order in is open. Players may do any possible road actions in any order mixing movement, traffic manipulation, and card play. The player moves the player's game token up to the number on the movement die. The player moves the traffic cars, or adds or substract traffic cars as indicated by the traffic die. The players may play as many cards as they have in their hand or acquire through card bonuses. Players then draw cards. Players draw one, two, or three cards at the end of their turn up to the hand limit of three-although other numbers of cards may be used in other embodiments. When their turn is over players pass the dice to the left.

Unless specified otherwise, normal traffic movement for player cars, traffic cars, and trucks is left, right, forward, and backward—not diagonally. However, the traffic die has a swerve face allowing diagonal traffic car movement, and cards also provide all manner of special movement opportunities. Trucks occupy two spaces on the road and require two movement points to travel one road space. Trucks may be moved if a player rolls the double move icon on the traffic die or with the friendly trucker card. Trucks may be added or removed with cards.

There are a variety of game board tiles which affect game play. Straight tiles have images of a straight classic highway. The road is divided into a grid of vertical lanes and horizontal spaces. The curved tiles present different tactical opportunities and show an image of a curved road. As there is no basic grid to distinguish what is diagonal movement, player cars, traffic cars, and trucks may slide between spaces based on the arrows. Normal and diagonal movement on the curve tiles are considered equivalent. Specific diagonal movement bonuses can be used in whatever way a player chooses. Backward movement specified on the aggression cards can be a simple lane change as long as some backward movement is made.

The exit tile is the end of the road and end of game play. As the game progresses it is not unusual for the exit tile to become jammed with traffic as players seek to slow the progress of the leader. Traffic cars may be moved by dice and cards forward into the exit zone and removed from play to provide players with a clear path to the finish. It is also possible to move cars and trucks backward off the enter tile.

There is also a toll booth tiled. Game play on the toll booth tile has several constraints. The yellow striped spaces are the active area of the toll booth. Player cars, traffic cars, and trucks may only move forward—not backward—through the active area and may not change lanes. Traffic cars and trucks may not be added directly to the yellow striped spaces, but they may moved into them and removed with cards or dice. The black pavement spaces before and after the toll booth zone allow normal play. Diagonal movement into or out of the toll booth is not allowed. The toll booth tile should be placed after the half-way point of the road.

The game is won by the first player to get their car off the exit tile. Once the game has been won, players may want to continue the playing for second, third, fourth, or even fifth place.

There are a variety of game play options for altering the game play. In one embodiment, the players have four or more cards in their hand. In another embodiment, play begins with game board tiles face down. When a player car reaches the end of the front tile another tile is drawn and placed on the road. In other embodiments the players may be timed and can be penalized if their turn is not completed within a predetermined set of time.

What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that many further combinations and permutations of such matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods. Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.

The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein. 

1) A board game system comprising a) one or more board game tiles, wherein each of said board games tiles comprises a i) a paperboard top layer; ii) a polymeric bottom layer having a plurality of channels extending from a bottom side of said one or more board games tiles into said polymeric bottom layer; iii) a polyester fabric layer disposed between said paperboard top layer and said polymeric bottom layer; b) a plurality of game dice; c) a plurality of game cards; and d) a plurality of game tokens. 2) The board game system as in claim 1 wherein said plurality of dice further comprises a) a movement die having a plurality of numbers on an outer surface; and b) a traffic die having a plurality of instruction icons on an outer surface. 3) The board game system as in claim 1 wherein said plurality of game tokens are shaped three-dimensional objects. 4) The board game system as in claim 1 wherein said plurality of game tokens further comprises a) two or more player tokens; b) two or more car tokens; and c) two or more truck tokens. 5) The board game system as in claim 4 a) wherein said paperboard top layer of said board game tiles has a printed surface displaying a gaming image having a grid image. b) wherein each of said two or more player tokens are no larger than one space within said grid image; c) wherein each of said two or more car tokens are no larger than one space within said grid image; and d) wherein each of said two or more truck tokens are no larger than two adjacent spaces within said grid image. 6) The game board system as in claim 1 wherein said polymeric bottom layer is composed of a material selected from a group consisting of: rubber, synthetic rubber, polyurethane rubber, polyisoprene, cis-1,4-polyisoprene natural rubber, trans-1,4-polyisoprene gutta-percha, synthetic polyisoprene, polybutadiene, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, polychloroprene, neoprene, butyl rubber, halogenated butyl rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, ethylene propylene diene rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber, polyacrylic rubber, silicone rubber, fluorosilicone rubber, fluoroelastomer, perfluoroelastomer, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, and ethylene-vinyl acetate. 7) (canceled) 8) The game board system as in claim 1 wherein said plurality of channels are parallel. 9) The game board system as in claim 1 wherein two or more of said plurality of channels intersect. 10) The board game system as in claim 6 wherein said plurality of dice further comprises a) a movement die having a plurality of numbers on an outer surface; and b) a traffic die having a plurality of instruction icons on an outer surface. 11) The board game system as in claim 10 wherein said plurality of game tokens further comprises a) two or more player tokens; b) two or more car tokens; and c) two or more truck tokens. 12) The board game system as in claim 11 a) wherein said paperboard top layer of said board game tiles has a printed surface displaying a gaming image having a grid image. b) wherein each of said two or more player tokens are no larger than one space within said grid image; c) wherein each of said two or more car tokens are no larger than one space within said grid image; and d) wherein each of said two or more truck tokens are no larger than two adjacent spaces within said grid image. 13) (canceled) 14) The game board system as in claim 12 wherein said plurality of channels are parallel. 15) The game board system as in claim 12 wherein two or more of said plurality of channels intersect. 16) A method of utilizing a game board system a) wherein said game board system comprises i) one or more board game tiles, wherein each of said board games tiles comprises a (1) a paperboard top layer; (2) a polymeric bottom layer; (3) a polyester fabric layer disposed between said paperboard top layer and said polymeric bottom layer; ii) a plurality of game dice; iii) a plurality of game cards; and iv) a plurality of game tokens; b) wherein said method comprises i) placing said one or more game tiles on a planar surface such that said polymeric bottom layer is adjacent to said planar surface; ii) placing one or more game tokens on said paperboard top layer; iii) rolling said one or more game dice; iv) taking one or more game cards; v) discarding one or more game cards; and vi) moving a predetermined game token along a top portion of said one or more game board tiles. 